Boruto: Aftermath
by BlackBird6295
Summary: In a direct sequel to Boruto: Naruto the Movie, follow the son of The Seventh Hokage as he works to discover himself as a shinobi, surpass his father, and become the next great Hero of the Hidden Leaf. Leave a review, I love talking to you guys!
1. Vote of Confidence

**_Vote of Confidence_**

* * *

"Go! Boruto!" Sasuke commanded as he weaved a simple hand sign, releasing five clones of himself to attack the young blonde like rabid dogs as he stayed behind to observe on the lush grass of the training field.

"Aye!" Boruto yelled, concentrating his chakra toward the skies above as he leaped backward toward a nearby tree branch, reaching into his weapon holster mid-backflip and grasping cold steel as he hurled five shuriken toward the clones that were in hot pursuit. The blades ripped through the air toward the line of clones jumping toward him, all of which evading his attack with anticipated ease.

With a cocky grin and a satisfied chuckle, Boruto weaved his father's cross-fingered hand sign, releasing two shadow clones which darted toward his master's replicas through the puff of smoke from which they were summoned. Sasuke's clones were quick to react, two of the five staying behind to intercept Boruto's copies in hand-to-hand combat. The other three remained on target, focused on the blonde boy standing on the branch in front of them.

In response to the lethal collision course Sasuke's remaining clones set toward the blonde, Boruto reached to his side, recovering a kunai complete with a paper bomb strung from the ring of its handle like a tail. Boruto kept a finger around the weapon inside the holster, waiting for the right moment.

 _Three._ He thought, a smile reappearing on his face as he assumed a relaxed stance on the branch, witnessing three of his master's clones race toward his position with haste among the trees.

 _Two._

He grasped the metal of the rigged kunai in his hand, hearing steel scrape against steel as he slid it from his holster. He stood prepared as the clones came closer, now within a few yards of him.

 _One._

The blonde twirled the tool in his hand until the tip of the onyx dagger faced downward, and just as Sasuke's three duplicates were upon him, he thrusted it under his own body and into the wood of the branch he was standing on. Upon contact with the wood, the bomb immediately exploded, the blast easily eradicating the three clones, and taking Boruto out with them.

Sasuke looked upon the scene with a hint of curiosity. He stood and watched as the burned body of his student fell from the cloud of debris that his own explosion caused, and landed on the ground with a hard thud. The boy appeared unresponsive, twitching on the ground from the searing pain he felt from the fire. Squinting at what he saw before him, Sasuke sent the two remaining clones after the unconscious Boruto.

What happened next caught Sasuke by surprise: his clones weren't moving.

Boruto's unconscious, singed and bruised body disappeared in a sudden puff of smoke as the five shuriken which were lodged into the ground from his first attack each transformed into Boruto copies, all of which now restraining Sasuke's two remaining clones. Then suddenly, through the glare of the sun, Sasuke looked up to spot a small silhouette high in the sky, holding an orb; a great ball of concentrated chakra.

 _Rasengan._ Sasuke smirked as he witnessed Boruto throw his attack downward toward the earth from his place up in the blue sky. The orb plummeted downward by about eight yards before it disintegrated into the wind before hitting its target, and the blonde grinned triumphantly, showing teeth as he concentrated chakra to his forearms and made a single hand sign with two fingers pointing skyward. Sasuke concentrated on Boruto's movements toward his clones, noticing the hand sign he made just after releasing.

 _So…He's catching on_ the raven thought as he felt the wind blast through his hair from afar when Boruto's clones, along with the restrained clones of his master, were suddenly hammered into the breaking ground by a great downward force, sinking into the impacted earth and disappearing into thin air after the dust cleared from the newly formed mini-crater that now existed in the middle of the training field.

Boruto, satisfied with the damage, landed gracefully a few yards from Sasuke. He regained his breath for a moment before brandishing a thumbs up toward the raven who stood before him.

"Hm," Sasuke said as he clicked the device in his hand, "15.8 seconds. Very well done, Boruto."

The blonde smiled brightly at his master in reply, and he lightly smiled back, seeing the determination of his student bloom to life before his very eyes. Though he wasn't the best at expressing it, Sasuke couldn't be prouder of how far the boy had come.

"Ok Boruto, that'll conclude our training for today" Sasuke declared, pocketing the wristwatch and immediately sensing the younger's visible dismay. Boruto's face gradually changed to one of disappointment, and the fire in his eyes dimmed as the approaching sunset bathed the two shinobi in its soft amber glow.

"Uncle Sasuke, when are you gonna show me how to focus my rasengan better? I'm going to prove to my dad that I can make one bigger and better than that old man ever could!" Boruto asked with perseverance returning to his boyish demeanor. Sasuke looked upon him with a blank expression, knowing _exactly_ what he had in mind for that training.

"Naruto's rasengan took years to hone to the level it's at now, and you act like it takes a few training sessions" Sasuke said, wary of Boruto's reluctance to look at him in the eye, "I will teach you, but you must be willing to give absolutely anything and everything in order to achieve it" Sasuke finished, pausing for a moment, acknowledging that Boruto still seemed slightly unsettled.

"I'll train hard, every day if that's what it takes!" Boruto said with a hint of impatience, "I just wish we would start sooner…" Boruto trailed off. Sasuke looked at him, his expression unwavering as he spoke again.

"Boruto, you defeated my clones _and_ you broke your record time in the process today. By a long shot. Yesterday _and_ the day before that, you were struggling to do better than 18.5 seconds, remember that?" Sasuke reminded the boy, who in return looked toward the ground, agreeing in pouted acknowledgement.

"I see from the display you just gave me that you've become very cunning. And, you've definitely impressed," Sasuke continued, looking past the blonde to the 10-foot wide hole in the ground he made. Sensing Boruto's head shoot up at him in surprise and gratitude, he looked back toward his apprentice with a light smile.

"Today was a victory, Boruto. Be sure not to overlook that" he finished, watching his student nod his head toward the ground.

"Ok, I won't. Thanks Uncle Sasuke" Boruto said, smiling to his master and begrudgingly making peace with his racing determination to train until the world ended.

Sasuke nodded, and bid the boy farewell for the evening as he watched him take to the trees, journeying toward his home under orange skies. He smiled lightly and let out a short laugh when he was sure that Boruto had become out of earshot.

"Are you convinced now?" He called out to the trees behind him, never bothering to turn around when he felt the wind rush toward him as the Seventh Hokage, Naruto Uzumaki, landed on the grass behind his best friend.

Looking back and toward the blonde's direction, Sasuke turned to face his friend, who wore his usual orange jacket and white cloak, a design of crimson fire adorning the bottom trim. Simply put, he was the spitting image of the Fourth.

"You know, I'm sure Boruto would appreciate it if you came to watch him in person once in a while, Naruto," Sasuke suggested, earning a smile from the blonde, "there's no need to stand back and hide forever."

"Sasuke, you know as well as I do that he would feel as if he needed to challenge me. He works at his best all the time already, I don't need to intimidate him" He replied.

"Hm," Sasuke grunted confidently, "and you were any different?" He asked, catching the blonde off-guard a bit as he received a short laugh in reply, "You tried to fight _everybody_ who you thought was stronger than you."

"Uh…yeah," Naruto admitted with a laugh, rubbing the back of his head, "I—I guess I did, didn't I?"

Sasuke paused to look at his friend for a moment, observing the clear, defined pride that emanated from his radiant smile.

"He's very fond of you" Sasuke stated softly, watching as Naruto's expression fell slightly, his eyes darting to the side. Sure, the relationship he had with his son had surely become a more positive one ever since they fought side by side with the Five Kage a month ago, but he would admit that their bond was far from perfect; they often disagreed on a lot of things. They've had their differences but thankfully it always seemed to work out in the end.

 _I guess that's just what parenting is_ he thought, looking back toward the raven.

"So, about his training—" the hokage began.

"He's shaping up to be a fine shinobi," Sasuke said, cutting the blonde off as he usually did when it came to answering the same question he asked every day.

"His accuracy and cunning has improved tenfold. Hell, you saw what he did to my clones" the raven finished, signaling toward the fresh crater in the ground and the tree which now lay mostly in a pile of burned rubble. Naruto nodded, visibly impressed.

"I saw, he _did_ have a few tricks up his sleeve and he hid himself till the very end," the blonde said, looking into Sasuke's eyes, a smile approaching on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest, "How like you, for him to think of that."

Sasuke smiled at his friend's comment. It was true, he was teaching Boruto everything he knew, starting from the very beginning.

"Thank you for taking him on as your apprentice, Sasuke." Naruto thanked him sincerely. Sasuke smiled and nodded back in reply as Naruto shifted his gaze out to a few birds which shot from one tree to the next off in the distance.

"Naruto" Sasuke said suddenly after a moment, reacquiring the blonde's refreshed, undivided attention, "I need to urge you…to reconsider your decision regarding the continuation of the Chuunin Exams."

Naruto grew serious as he looked upon the stoic face of his friend. "Sasuke, I told you before that my decision was final. He can't be allowed to resume the exam with the rest of his class; he cheated and was disqualified, and he needs to learn to face the consequences of his actions."

Sasuke remained unmoving as he took in the blonde's words. "I'll say it again, Naruto. Were we _really_ any different?"

Naruto paused, looking past Sasuke's shoulder at the three familiar wooden posts that remained standing through the years. He could almost see faint apparitions of Team 7 sitting there eating, back when Sasuke had given him food during their initial training with Kakashi; their first mission as a team. They thought that their sensei wasn't watching and tried to cheat his rules…weren't they wrong. But then again, they were right to do so.

"Sasuke, that was different. That was very different, and not to mention it was also much less severe than what Boruto did" Naruto protested.

"Naruto, I know that it was different. Black and white, in fact," Sasuke added, sensing the stillness of the twilight which was upon them, "But you were there. You watched him make the decision which earned him the right to truly call himself a shinobi."

Naruto lowered his gaze toward the grass upon which he stood, falling into deep thought as he continued to listen to what Sasuke had to say. Sasuke remained observant of his blonde friend as he continued to ponder the situation.

"I really do think that it would do you well to look at Boruto's growth differently," Sasuke suggested, watching Naruto become curious as to what he meant, "Assess him not as his father, but as a hokage" he finished.

Naruto's head lifted back up to meet the raven's eyes once again, expecting that he wasn't finished.

"Naruto, I'm giving you my personal recommendation for Boruto Uzumaki to compete in the Chuunin Selection Exams upon their continuation." Sasuke declared, Naruto's face visibly softening as he heard Sasuke's words. The raven put his hand on Naruto's shoulder as he captured his eye contact one more time.

"I believe that your son has finally become a leaf shinobi," Sasuke said just above a whisper, pausing.

"And I know you think so, too." He finished, watching his blonde friend begin to fall back into thought, looking toward the ground again with half-lidded eyes. Sasuke removed his hand from his shoulder, turning to face away from the hokage and toward the setting sun.

"Let me know what you decide." He said, disappearing in the blink of an eye, leaving Naruto standing among the training field that he knew all too well ever since he was Boruto's age.

He looked back up, walking forward toward the damage his son caused. Upon reaching the most notable, which was the crater, he slid his hands into the pockets of his orange and black jacket, pushing the white cloak to hang from behind him as his arms rested against his sides.

His eyes widened when he saw that the crater was etched in the shape of a huge spiral, making note of the impact Boruto's projectile rasengan really made upon the earth. His son had true potential, that much was easily concluded in Naruto's eyes. When he weaved the singular hand sign right before it hit the ground, it had caught Naruto's interest especially.

 _I wonder when he learned to manipulate his wind chakra affinity…_ Naruto thought with utmost curiosity, _I never learned to do that until I was at least sixteen._

At last, he noted one more thing, lying in the center of the hole in the ground. Among the dirt, the dust, and the rock, he spotted a shred of Boruto's black and red cloak, rustling softly in the wind which swept down into the hole.

 _Hm,_ Naruto thought, _You really are a shinobi after all._

Turning from the scene, the hokage walked across the training field and headed toward the streets of the village to go home, ensured that Shikamaru was manning the office until his return in the morning.

* * *

 **A/N – Thanks for reading guys! Don't be afraid to leave a review, I reply to everybody :P**

 **Seeya next chapter!**

 **~Blackbird**


	2. Burned

**A/N – Damn! Thanks for the incredible response from the first chapter, everyone! I hope you enjoy this one just as much. Oh, and please think of my posting super-fast this time around as a personal thank you from me ;P**

 **Enjoy!**

 **~Blackbird**

* * *

 ** _Burned_**

* * *

Boruto lay awake on his bed in the darkened bedroom, bathing under the light of the moon shining through his window as he played his handheld game. His face must have contorted into fifty different positions in reaction to what was happening on the little screen that softly illuminated his face. It had been a long day; he, Sarada and Mitsuki were occupied on a mission with Konohamaru-sensei up in the city. Somewhere around mid-day, their team had been called suddenly to apprehend some common robber. Nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing really special. Hell, given a city of that size, Boruto was surprised and admittedly a little disappointed that they didn't get called for stuff like that more often. They had captured the offender relatively easily, and pacified him until the Hidden Leaf Police Force finally arrived on the scene and took him away.

Boruto remembered his father telling him that their police force had grown considerably larger over time as the original Hidden Leaf Village expanded beyond its borders, eventually evolving into a sprawling, modern metropolis.

He had also told him to make no mistake; he without a doubt considered the young, aspiring shinobi of the Leaf to be the _real_ police force these days…As the village grew larger, there were more and more children enrolling into the Academy, and what's more is that the Seventh saw that the majority of the students felt an itching eagerness to get out into some real action, just as he had felt when he was their age.

Turns out, petty crime around the now expansive village ended up becoming the perfect solution to satiate that need as the missions Naruto newly enacted for many teams of genin honed their skills by capturing criminals. No better way to satisfy eager Academy students than sending them off to defend their village in a way that they could do so as a training exercise. In fact, other than beginner-type missions like rescuing a cat from a tree, taking care of domestic crime actually started becoming the higher majority of missions which crossed the hokage's desk and flooded his inbox.

With the conclusion of the Fourth Shinobi World War, all of the separate villages found themselves existing among one another as comrades, and at peace; quarrels between them didn't happen _nearly_ as much as they did in the old days, so naturally there were less missions that dealt with such problems.

The son of the hokage was woken up from his thoughts by the short tune beeping from his game, indicating that he had lost, once again. Staring at the screen's static "Game Over" image, Boruto found his eyes half-lidded as he realized that he had drawn a blank and spaced out while he was playing the game.

He was too focused on the situation he was in with his father. Because Boruto cheated to get to the point he reached, his dad wasn't going to let him back into the Chuunin Exams when they started back up again.

 _It's not fair,_ Boruto thought, switching off the game carelessly, _I think I've learned my lesson by now, dad…_

Putting the device to rest on his nightstand, the young blonde sat up, getting out of bed and walking across the bedroom. He felt the cold of the hardwood floor beneath his feet as he approached the wooden sliding door to his closet. Reaching out, he opened it to reveal at least five identical jackets, all black with a red trim.

Boruto squinted his eyes as he pushed them all aside, hearing the hangars slide along the metal closet bar as they moved toward the empty left side of the small space. Behind the row of clothes and against the back wall, his dad's old orange jumpsuit coat hung on a hook.

The boy inspected the old, tattered jacket for a moment. His mom never did clean the thing after his encounter with Momoshiki and Kinshiki, but Boruto liked it that way; he thought it looked cool. Besides, it was his to do with as he pleased since his dad had decided to let him keep it after the aforementioned battle ended. Boruto stretched his arm out, grasping the wearied fibers of the jumpsuit as he pulled it from its hook and put it around his shoulders. Slipping his arms into the sleeves, he stepped in front of the body mirror which sat at an angle against the wall across from his bedroom door.

 _I guess…_ He thought as he zipped the jacket up halfway, leaving his white t-shirt and necklace still visible.

 _I guess I look_ _ **kinda**_ _cool in this._ He finished his thought as he examined his reflection for another moment through the blonde bangs that invaded his eyesight. Shifting his gaze toward his bed, he spotted the untied headband lying on the comforter next to where he previously was. Boruto paused for a moment, observing how the dim moonlight filled the engraved Leaf symbol with a white tint. He made his way over to it, pulling it up to his forehead and placing it behind the hair which fell in front of his eyes. Tying it back behind his head, he snapped the knot tight and pulled his braced sandals around his foot and up nearly to his knees before he flew toward the window above his bed in one swift motion, quietly opening its glass doors.

"Big brother?" He slowly shut his eyes as he heard the sound from behind, turning around to face his doorway as he remained perched on the windowsill. Opening his eyes, he found his kid sister, Himawari, standing in the warm glow of the hallway light which now lit up a precise portion of his room. She looked upon her brother with worry as well as a hint of curiosity as she kept her hand on the doorknob which matched her height.

"I'm just going out to train some more, Himawari. I'll be back soon," the blonde smiled softly, "I promise."

"…Ok" Himawari whispered, smiling back at her older brother fondly. It warmed Boruto's heart to a level which he could never accurately describe.

Bringing two fingers up to his forehead, he offered a parting solute to Himawari, winking and showing teeth in his happy-go-lucky grin before he leapt from the windowsill, flying through the trees and disappearing into the night. His sister ran to Boruto's bed and got on top of it to look out his window, hoping to catch a glimpse of her brother doing cool ninja stuff as he went on his way. She was disappointed a bit, for she was just a little too late to see anything; the blonde boy had already vanished.

"Don't worry Himawari, he won't be gone for too long," Hinata said from the doorway, slightly startling the little girl in the window as she turned to face her mother, "Besides, he's got a big day tomorrow."

"He does? W…what is it?" Himawari questioned. Hinata could tell that her daughter was very much intrigued with anything that had to do with her brother, which made her smile.

"Well," Hinata replied, "I think your father has something in mind."

Naruto walked through the streets of the village, deciding to take a long walk before going home. He walked on a cobblestone path which sat under the light of amber streetlamps among the warm ambience provided by the homes surrounding him. His hands rested in his pockets as he walked past the long line of rowhomes which stood proudly on both sides of the road. It was late, and he was too deep in thought to notice the looks of awe he was receiving from each of the villagers who had either stopped sweeping their porches to say hello, or were looking out the windows with their children to get a glimpse of their hokage.

Naruto smiled as he continued walking through town, waving to a few of the people who stopped what they were doing to greet him. He also took the time to offer a salute to the families that were watching him with their young ones. It was moments like those that often reminded the blonde of just how much he truly loved the Hidden Leaf along with everyone in it as if they were family. It was looking upon the happy faces of young families that now gave him happiness instead of loneliness. It made him that much more grateful every single day for having a family he could finally call his own with the one he loved.

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw a sudden flash bolt through the trees in a small parting of the lines of rowhomes. Looking upon it with concern, he looked around him at the surrounding areas before exiting the street through said parting, taking care not to cause alarm amongst the villagers settling in for the night. Once out of their sight, he tailed the figure, unable to discern who it was due to the darkness of the night which fell upon the village. Whoever it was, they were fast. Finally stopping at a grove out in the forest which surrounded the village, Naruto assumed a position among the trees, standing behind a large trunk and concealing himself in its shadow as he silently and carefully withdrew a kunai from the side holster underneath his white cloak.

Practicing extreme caution, Naruto held the kunai at the ready as he slowly crept halfway around the trunk of the tree, clinging to its side to maintain his invisibility. His darkened blue eyes darted toward the grove, witnessing the silhouette of the figure standing in the center of it. It was unmoving, and Naruto squinted, narrowing his vision in an attempt to focus on the scene just yards away from where he stood.

The silhouette was short, and appeared to have its hands jammed in its pockets as the wind blew past, ruffling the person's clothing. Seeing the silhouette's hand reveal itself, the blonde's eyes widened as he witnessed the small light emerge from its palm, floating in mid-air. It was a bright white light, which quickly grew a bit in size, turning blue as it gradually illuminated the person who was holding it.

 _That's…_ Naruto thought as he tucked his bandaged finger into the ring of the jet black kunai, silently sliding it back into its holster.

 _Boruto?_

From afar, he witnessed the cerulean eyes of the younger blonde boy glow from the light of the jutsu which he held in the palm of his hand. Naruto quietly kept watch, curious as to what his son was doing out here at this hour, wearing his headband as well as the blonde's childhood orange jumpsuit jacket; surely he would've been home _at least_ three hours ago.

The chakra in Boruto's hand swirled with the violence of a hurricane as he focused everything he had toward his palm. He was trembling, it seemed. Naruto noticed a glistening reflecting off of his child, and he squinted his eyes slightly as he observed what he could only guess were beads of sweat that were presently forming on Boruto's temple. He could sense the massive behemoth of energy that was racing through his son's chakra network at the moment, shortly realizing that his expression had involuntarily shapeshifted into one of visible shock.

 _How long has he been able to summon this much chakra at once?_ The Seventh thought as he continued to watch Boruto attempt to control the energy which emanated from his veins. The rasengan in his hand grew to the size of a basketball as it naturally increased its rotation speed along with its size. Boruto braced his shaking forearm with his other hand, trying with all his might to keep the jutsu steady and continuously flowing.

Naruto felt his pupils grow as he saw a new slither of chakra emerge from the center of Boruto's hand and proceed to enter his son's rasengan to join the rest of his swirling energy. The hokage grew nervous. This chakra wasn't of a normal nature; it was a deep crimson…the color of blood.

Boruto's face twisted as he felt an unnatural sensation he'd never felt before. It felt _good_. He watched with fascination as the air around him whirled, a ring of violent wind centering on him and kicking up the grass around where he stood as his rasengan began changing its color to a light shade of violet. The mysterious red chakra crackled wildly like fire as it rose up from the young shinobi's hand, further penetrating the bright orb and corrupting its appearance. He grinned at the feeling, experiencing the rush of a tremendous power which was all new to him.

The boy suddenly found himself unable to stop pumping chakra into the sphere which spun rapidly in his hand; it was as if it had a mind of its own. After about thirty seconds of the foreign chakra shooting into his now violet rasengan, Boruto unexpectedly felt his hand start burning. Searing. _Unbearably._

He let a short cry scrape its way through his throat as a result of the pain, sinking to his knees which impacted themselves in the uncut grass. Not another single second went by before Boruto suddenly felt a powerful gust of wind at his side and a firm hand grasp his forearm, pulling it upward. Immediately, his rasengan disintegrated, the heavy buildup of energy diffusing itself into thin air, thrusting a massive wave of wind in all directions, wildly rustling the leaves of the trees which surrounded the grove before all eventually became quiet once again among the ambient night. The boy looked behind him in surprise, only to find his father clutching his arm up in the air.

Naruto stood for a moment, watching his son's face. He watched the two sets of freshly deepened whiskers on his son's face rescind back to their natural state, and his eyes return to normal from the dark shade of red which had crept into his irises, unbeknownst to the younger.

"Dad..?" He said, baffled and equally caught off-guard at how quickly the man had intervened. His father looked down at him with a most serious glare.

"Boruto, what are you doing out here this late?" Naruto replied firmly, offering Boruto a look of what he _thought_ was parental disapproval. To the younger blonde however, his dad did appear to be scolding him, yes, but he also seemed almost…relieved.

"I'm just practicing my jutsu, Dad. What's the big deal" He asked accusatorily as he yanked his arm from Naruto's iron grip.

Naruto looked upon his son with half-lidded eyes as he sighed, "Boruto, you should get some rest, it's late."

"Yeah, I know. I just wanted to come out here and…prepare is all" The boy said for an excuse.

"Uh…huh."

"Dad, I swear that's all that I was doing. Just practicing what Uncle Sasuke's been teaching me so far." Boruto declared matter-of-factly. Naruto nodded toward his son's bruising hand.

"So he's teaching you to do _that,_ then?" Naruto interrogated, noticing an uncomfortable expression subtly cross Boruto's face at the mention of his burned hand. Boruto brought his hand up to his face, pretending to thoroughly examine it in wonder.

"My hand? I don't know what you're talking about." He said.

"Boruto," Naruto warned, "I don't think you really understand what just happened."

Boruto looked upon his father with a curiosity which he failed to hide. He pursed his lips and waited as Naruto pondered how to continue.

 _It couldn't be…there's just no way,_ he thought as he proceeded to further examine his son's singed fingers and bruised palm.

"For now, it's nothing to be alarmed about. Boruto, I know this hurts right now," Naruto said as he went to hold his son's wrist, delicately observing the damage his jutsu had done to his hand, "But we're gonna have Granny Tsunade look at it tomorrow morning. For now, though, you need to rest it."

"But dad, what about my training?" Boruto whined, gaining his father's attention back to his eyes, "I can definitely still meet up with Uncle Sasuke to practice tomorrow morning. It feels fine."

"No," Naruto flatly replied, "There are some things I need to discuss with him tomorrow, and by the looks of it, you need to rest this hand for a little while. The chakra burn roughed it up pretty good; there's no way that you'll be able to focus _anything_ to this hand as it is."

"Oh yeah? Watch m—"

"Boruto" Naruto interrupted sternly, shutting down any ambition Boruto may have had previously to defy his father's decision. He pouted to himself, mumbling something inaudible under his breath in a defeated manner. Naruto looked at him with mixed emotions; it was truly as if he were staring into a mirror. Naruto beat himself up training all the time, sometimes going for _days_ until he pretty much dropped dead. He was about Boruto's age, too. Once again though, he thought, this was different. Very different.

Naruto observed his son's hand one more time, noting that its damage was partially in likeness to the injury he had inflicted upon himself accidentally when he used his rasen-shuriken for the first time against Kakuzu. He made the mistake of maintaining direct physical contact with it when he landed the attack. That injury temporarily disabled his arm and nearly decommissioned him as a shinobi; though Boruto's hand appeared to be a lot less severe, he would be damned if he were to let that happen to his son. He shifted his gaze back down to Boruto, who still refrained from establishing any kind of eye contact with his father out of a mixture of pride and bitterness.

"Hey Boruto," Naruto said, gaining the reluctant attention of the younger blonde once again, "You won't be training with Uncle Sasuke in the morning, I need to talk to him while Granny Tsunade checks out your hand…"

Boruto sighed. He was already disappointed; he didn't need to hear the same thing a second time.

"But," His father continued, feeling a slight beacon of curiosity stem from the boy as he looked up at him, "After your hand heals, I have a challenge for you."

At that, a spark ignited in Boruto's widening ocean-blue eyes as his father looked down to meet his wondrous gaze with a smile.

"Once we get you patched up, you're gonna train with _me_."


	3. Papercut

_**Papercut**_

* * *

Naruto sat focused at his desk, typing away at the keyboard of his computer in the light of the sunny day which graced the Hidden Leaf Village. The tapping of the keys was the only sound in the room, highlighting the deafening serenity of the late morning as he validated a B-rank mission completion report and filed it away. His desk was piled high with paperwork and adorned with empty instant ramen containers that the hokage had refrained from cleaning. So much for going paperless, the addition of the computer seemed to change little around the office as far as appearances went.

The blonde hit 'accept' on the final dialogue box that appeared on the screen, and promptly put his hands to his face, rubbing the morning off of him as he rested his head on his palms for a moment. He brought his head back up and looked at the picture of Team 7 on his desk. It was a picture that he had kept as his treasure for so long, and he smiled as he noticed that it was the only nice thing among everything else on his cluttered desk. Turning back to his computer, he began documenting another completion report. In the placid silence, Naruto heard a knock on his door, but remained ever focused on the work in front of him.

"Come in," Naruto said absent-mindedly, his eyes never leaving the computer screen as he continued typing away. The doorknob clicked open, and Naruto flicked his eyes over to it quickly to see who it was, barely registering who had proceeded to walk inside, as per usual. As habit trained him, his eyes then went to look back down at his work before he immediately darted them back up at who walked in. He stood from his chair, establishing eye contact in a serious, but welcoming manner.

"Good morning, Lord Hokage."

"And to you, Granny," Naruto replied firmly, the ghost of a smile appearing on his face, "And please, you can drop the formalities."

Tsunade approached the blonde standing behind the hokage's desk, hearing the door shut behind her as she walked.

"Hm," she paused, smiling at him fondly, "You really have grown up, Naruto."

"Well," Naruto said, coming out from behind the desk to greet her, "We'd all like to think so, wouldn't we?"

Tsunade nodded, that same light smile on her tired face. There they stood among the floorboards which held so much history. For a moment, all was quiet as the air around them grew heavy with anticipation, Naruto's friendly expression falling into one of a solemn nature. Tsunade softened at this, and breathed a short, quiet sigh as Naruto took a step forward, getting just a bit closer to the Fifth, his eyes looking upon her with a hint of fear hiding behind his grave complexion.

"How is he?" Naruto asked lowly as he grimly paused, watching Tsunade's head lower to the floor slightly, "What happened to my son."

Tsunade inhaled, bringing her head back up to face the Seventh with an uneasy expression finding its way to her face.

"I took a look at his hand before I patched it up to his forearm. You two look even more alike now," she said, signaling toward Naruto's wrapped arm, clad in bandages.

"What about the burn," Naruto asked, "Can he manipulate chakra."

"I performed a very intricate medical ninjutsu on him, as you would've guessed. I looked for signs of the same injury that you had after fighting Kakuzu long ago, but thankfully found nothing of the sort. As of now, his hand is healed of the burn, and yes, he can still focus chakra to it," Tsunade explained.

Naruto's face immediately shifted to one of relief as he closed his eyes, putting his hands to his face once again and letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding in.

"Thank you, Granny. Thank you so much," he breathed, removing his hands from his face and looking back to Tsunade. She still held a serious expression, which puzzled Naruto, given the recent good news. A moment went by, and she showed no signs nor intention of leaving, indicating to Naruto that she indeed had more to say.

"I also examined his chakra network, just to be safe as you asked," She said, holding Naruto's slightly confused gaze, "There's something you need to know."

xXxXx

"Boruto, what the hell did you do this time?" Sarada interrogated, tapping her glasses up her nose bridge and pointing to his arm which was wrapped in gauze and bandages.

"Yeah, you even had to see the Fifth Hokage about it, and she's the best medical ninja in the village," Mitsuki said dryly. Boruto looked at them with a smirk, coolly leaning up against the railing of the small bridge they were all standing on.

"It's nothing, I just messed up my hand a little during training. I'll be fine," Boruto replied proudly to the slightly concerned faces of his comrades, who then exchanged a look with each other.

"Yeah, okay Boruto. _A little._ Right," Sarada said, crossing her arms over her chest and looking to the ground with a discontented frown.

"That's why you took forever meeting us here this morning, and then finally showed up with a mummified arm," she finished skeptically. Boruto looked over to the Uchiha with a cocked eyebrow as Mitsuki showed visible yet unspoken signs of agreeing with her.

"Who cares? Point is, she fixed me up and now I'm ready to go. Besides, it looks cool!" Boruto exclaimed, twisting his arm out in front of him to simultaneously examine it while showing it off.

"It's funny, actually. With those new bandages, you look kinda like your dad," Mitsuki interjected observantly, gaining a lighthearted glare from the blonde.

"Yeah…" Boruto mumbled, looking from his friend back to his arm, half-closing his eyes as he continued to examine his wrapped limb for a minute, "Maybe a little bit, I guess."

Mitsuki placed a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"That's not a bad thing, Boruto," he declared quietly, offering him a smile. The blonde just looked back to his teammate, taking in what he had just said as he nodded back at him in response.

"Speaking of which, didn't you say that he was gonna train with you today instead of my dad?" Sarada asked, gaining a confident grin from Boruto, who showed teeth in doing so.

"Hell yeah, he is!" The boy exclaimed excitedly, "I bet he's gonna teach me something so awesome, you'll be seeing me on the call list for A rank missions within a week."

"Oh is that so," Sarada smiled deviously, "I'll seeya there, kid."

"Hey," Mitsuki cut in, "Don't forget me, because I'll be there first," he grinned to his teammates resolutely. They all nodded at each other in unison, prepared to outdo each other all the way until they reached the top.

Boruto stood among his teammates in newfound silence as they waited for their sensei, Konohamaru, who was at this point about a half hour late and counting. Looking toward his feet with half-lidded eyes, Boruto fell into deep thought.

xXxXx

Tsunade had left the hokage's office a few minutes ago, and Naruto remained standing there in the middle of the room which, in the middle of the day, grew darker with each passing second. His eyes were crestfallen as he kept his gaze lowered to the floor, lips parted ever so slightly. Everything around him stood still, including the air itself.

Turning his head sideways to look out at the village through the window behind his crowded desk, the blonde's eyes gradually filled with rage, his face trembling in anger as he made his way toward the window with haste. Naruto felt his quick, heavy footsteps pound the floor beneath him, and within seconds he found himself standing behind his desk, breathing through his nostrils slowly and heavily as he seemed to frantically look for something on the tabletop in a blinded fury. Turning around, he squeezed the top of his leather chair and violently shoved it toward the side of the room, hearing it crash against the wall as he slammed his bandaged fist into the thick fiberglass window, creating a large spider crack throughout the sheet of glass.

Silence soon returned, and Naruto held his fist in front of him, unmoving against the cracked glass as he looked toward the ground, listening to his faltering, erratic breathing. Feeling his lips tremble and his heart sink, he watched as the blood from his fist and the tears from his eyes fell to the hardwood floor beneath him.

 _Why did this have to happen? Why?_ He thought, clenching his fist harder, squeezing more blood from his knuckles.

He removed his hand from the impacted windowpane, feeling his breathing slowly make an effort to return to normal as he continued to look toward the ground. He heard footsteps race up the stairs behind the closed door, but Naruto paid the anticipated company no mind. Shortly after, just as he had thought, the door to his office was thrown open by none other than Shikamaru, who held a startled, urgent expression toward the blonde.

"Naruto, what happened, I—" he spoke rapidly, stopping in his tracks and looking upon Naruto's back as the blonde faced the shattered glass in front of him. He didn't look back at his friend, he just brought his gaze up to look at the distorted view of his village with weary eyes.

"Naruto..?" Shikamaru asked tentatively, taking slow, hesitant steps toward the hokage, "Is…everything okay?"

Naruto finally turned his head to meet the shirker's concerned eyes with his glazed, clouded ones. When Shikamaru realized what was happening, his face softened as he paused to let his friend speak.

"It…it's inside him, Shikamaru…" Naruto replied roughly, shakily stumbling over his words as he slowly turned toward his friend, another tear escaping his eye.

"The Nine-Tailed Fox's chakra is inside my son."

Shikamaru's eyes widened, and he wouldn't dare process what he had just heard.

 _Boruto…_ He thought, feeling absolutely bewildered by the news. He watched as his friend brought a hand up to wipe away the tears which stained his face. Shikamaru really didn't know what to say.

"Shikamaru, how—how am I gonna tell him? How can I face my _own son_ and tell him that he inherited my _curse_ …" Naruto said spitefully as Shikamaru went toward him.

"Naruto, I know that you must be hurting, but…you never meant to pass it on to your child. You know that."

"I know, Shikamaru, but I—" Naruto paused, feeling a whole new revelation cross his mind as he slowly and shakily placed his bloodied hand over his mouth and turned away to stare at the ground once again.

"M—My God…Himawari…" Naruto felt his eyes glisten all over again as his mouth grew agape. Could it be present in both of them..? Naruto tried with all of his might to not think of the dreaded possibility. Shikamaru made his way to his friend, putting his arm around him, offering his eternal support.

"Naruto, mark my words; your children are safe. They have friends, villagers, and so many others that love them," Shikamaru said comfortingly, "They…they have _parents_ that love them."

Naruto looked up at his friend at this, nodding his head toward him slowly in silent acknowledgement.

"They will _not_ go through the same pain that you went through," He continued, "I promise you."

Naruto paused for a moment as he listened to his friend, registering every word that he was saying. _Thankfully,_ once again when it comes to his children, things are indeed…different. The hokage wiped his face once more as Shikamaru gave him some space.

"Thank you, Shikamaru. I just don't know how I'm going to tell them. I…I also need Tsunade to look at Himawari."

"Naruto, I'll remind you that the Nine Tails is a very big reason why you've been able to heal extremely quickly, tap into an _astronomical_ reserve of chakra, and become the shinobi you were born to be. Look at where you are now. Look at what you've _accomplished_ ," Shikamaru said firmly, looking at Naruto in the eyes.

"If the same power exists in your son, then you must guide him to do the same," He continued.

"As his father."

Naruto kept his eyes on his friend for a moment before looking away to think, finally calming down.

"Okay," he whispered, "Shikamaru thank you so much for that. I appreciate it."

"Of course…Lord Seventh," he replied astutely, gaining Naruto's eyes back.

The blonde smiled at his friend, feeling most of the dread disappear from his soul.

 _Guide him, huh?_ He thought.

"I'll inform Lady Tsunade that you wish for her to test Himawari's chakra network," he said as he turned to take his leave, "Oh, and to maintenance that there's a window that needs to be fixed."

Naruto smirked, "Shikamaru."

The shirker, halfway through the door, turned to look back at his friend, and Naruto promptly saluted him. With a smile, it was returned before the tactician made his exit.

xXxXx

"Alright, Boruto. I'm assuming that you're not _too_ tired from your mission with Konohamaru-sensei?" Naruto asked, already knowing the answer.

"You think that some lowlife shoplifters are gonna wear _me_ out? Ha!" Boruto declared confidently as he cracked his knuckles, bearing the same determination that his father had when he was his age. Naruto looked at him, a matching grin appearing on his face.

"I didn't think so," He said, removing his hands from his pockets, reaching into his holster and drawing three jet-black kunai into his hand, tucking them each into the spaces between his fingers in one swift, fluid movement. Boruto's face tightened to that of a heightened fortitude as he crossed his fingers, summoning eight clones of himself, four standing on each side of him without breaking a sweat.

Naruto closed his eyes and smiled to himself, "So, I see you've broken your record."

Boruto squinted his eyes at his father in anticipation as Mitsuki, Sarada, Sakura and Sasuke openly watched from the trees surrounding the same training field that Boruto had come to call his second home.

"What was your limit before, again? Four shadow clones?" Naruto said as he shed his white cloak, letting it fall to the ground behind him. Sasuke and Sakura both smirked at Naruto's actions as Sarada and Mitsuki watched in wonder and anticipation at what they were about to witness. Leaves danced through the forest around them as the sun began to go down, another evening beginning.

Naruto whipped the three kunai in his hand out from his side, throwing them evenly into the trunk of a nearby tree in the shape of a vertical line. Boruto looked at them quizzically, wondering just what his father was planning.

"Those kunai are rigged with paper bombs around the handles," Naruto announced to his son, gaining his alerted gaze, "Your goal is to remove each one, before they detonate in five minutes. If that tree is destroyed, you fail."

Boruto smiled at his father's challenge.

"However, if you _do_ manage to keep the tree intact, I'll teach you something that'll destroy a _lot_ more than that," Naruto finished, sensing a spark fly from his excited son.

"I'm ready for anything!" Boruto announced, vehemently pointing a challenging finger at his father, "You're in for a world of hurt, _Lord Hokage_!"

"Hm," Naruto grunted as he effortlessly released twenty five clones, all of which forming a circle around his son as well as his duplicates, "Not quite yet."

From the trees, Sasuke and Sakura smiled as they saw Boruto's teammates look upon the scene, absolutely astonished to see what their hokage could do.

"Very impressive…This'll be quite the fight," Mitsuki said, looking over at Sarada, who nodded in reply.

"Ha," Sasuke cut in, gaining the sudden attention of the two genin, "Hold your excitement…you've seen _nothing_ yet."

Further bewildered, the two looked back to their blonde teammate, who was anxiously preparing for battle. He assumed a combative stance and plastered a cocky grin on his face as he formed his own protective circle of clones around himself in response to his father's enclosure tactic.

Naruto smiled in response to his son's moves, "Boruto!"

The younger looked back to his father through the two rings of clones which surrounded him, displaying a look of fierce determination on his face.

" _Come get me_!"


	4. Earn Your Keep

**_Earn Your Keep_**

* * *

Boruto focused his chakra as he stood in the epicenter of his eight clones, which protected him like the needles of a porcupine. His eyes quickly darted to the three kunai which were lodged in the tree off to the side by his father.

 _Ok…three kunai. Twenty-five clones. And of course the real one himself…this is gonna be fun._ Boruto thought as he planted his feet firmly to the ground, staring Naruto down intently as he felt his chakra surge through his veins and toward his hands.

Thanks to Tsunade, the young blonde's hand was good as new, though slightly numb in the center of his palm, where the amber-colored chakra burned him most severely. Focusing chakra proved to be of no issue however as the boy felt the rush of its blue aura engulf his being. He shifted his gaze back to Naruto, who offered a smirk in reply to his son's intense focus, and stood astute with a hand resting confidently on his hip.

From afar, the rest of team Konohamaru openly watched Boruto in wild anticipation along with Sasuke and Sakura, who calmly observed their teammate turned hokage with humble smiles.

"Enough staring, prepare yourself dad!" Boruto yelled at the top of his lungs. The hokage grunted in response.

"Clock's ticking, Boruto!" He yelled back. "And you don't want to see it hit zero!"

"Oh, don't worry," the young blonde said calmly. "It won't."

With a point of his finger, Naruto signaled his clones to engage. The Boruto's duplicates stood in porcupine formation, uniformly weaving synchronized hand signs before thrusting their hands forward.

"Water style! Water shield jutsu!" they all yelled at the same time, before a cylindrical wall of water was produced from clone to clone, creating a sizable barrier which surrounded and protected Boruto from his father's rapidly approaching clones. Naruto's brow rose a bit when he saw that Boruto was capable of genin-level water releases now. His pride was contained, however; as of this moment, Boruto was his enemy.

All twenty-five of Naruto's clones each created their own rasengan in response to the water shield which now protected his son, throwing their arms forward with the intent to break the shield upon contact. The hokage's eyes widened, however, when he saw all of his clones fall backward in unison, each in a line disappearing into thin air.

Meanwhile, the real Boruto withdrew his hand from the inside of his water shield, feeling the residual chakra of his chidori fizz away from his arm as he bore teeth in his newly found cocky grin.

 _He electrified the shield?_ Naruto thought, amazed at his son's tactic. Suddenly, he found himself in a combative defensive position that he didn't remember shifting to. He moved to defensive position on pure instinct alone; Boruto wasn't messing around.

"Gonna have to try a little harder than that, dad!" He yelled as his clones weaved one more uniform hand sign, releasing outward the water they had held solidly upright. The water thrust out in all directions, forcing Naruto to jump into midair while he reached into his weapon holster, fishing his fingers through the holes of four different shuriken.

Infusing wind chakra into each one, Naruto hurled the steel blades toward his son, who in response pulled out a kunai and was thrown into the air by his clones toward his father. He heard the sharp tang his kunai knife made as he deflected each of his father's shuriken. The last one of four, however, forcefully and unexpectedly knocked the blade from Boruto's hand. He quickly glanced back to see where it had gone, but was met with a fist to the jaw as he attempted to refocus himself on the crash course he had been on toward his father.

The boy fell hard and fast toward the ground below him, finally crashing to the dirt below in a cloud of dust and smoke. Sakura gasped a bit at what Naruto had just done; it appeared the hokage wasn't playing around either.

Boruto recovered, getting up and wiping the blood and dirt from the side of his lip as he watched his father land a few yards in front of him. Naruto slowly approached his son with an intimidating look on his face, which made Boruto's mind race. His eyes darted from side to side as he backed away from his father, who continued to make more progress toward the young blonde.

"What will you do now, Boruto?" The hokage challenged as another one of his son's duplicates charged at him from behind with a mid-size rasengan in its hand. Noticing this, Naruto effortlessly reached his bandaged hand out behind him, not even looking as he caught the clone's arm in his tight grasp, whirling it away from him to the far side of the training field.

"Look at you, you look exhausted already!" Naruto chided at his son, a smile reappearing on his face as he watched his son timidly back away from him more and more. Naruto brought his hand out to his side, focusing a rasengan in his palm as he continued to approach, to Boruto's visible dismay.

Sasuke and company watched from afar at what was unfolding before their eyes. Sarada and Mitsuki looked distraught and nervous to the raven. Admittedly, Sasuke himself was slowly getting almost as nervous as Sakura was.

 _Naruto…do you really intend to hit him with that? He's got nowhere to go._ He thought as he squinted his eyes to see them.

"Well Boruto, I guess I've won." Naruto said as he lifted his rasengan in front of him. Boruto heard the low hum of the crackling chakra which sizzled rapidly throughout the sky-blue orb which was mere inches from his face.

A tense moment arrived; both shinobi were engaged in intense eye contact before Naruto closed his eyes, a ghost of disappointment making its way across his face as he made to safely diffuse his rasengan.

His eyes shot open when Boruto grasped his father's arm, hard. He looked back toward his son, seeing a sudden resolve pierce through his cerulean eyes. Naruto's rasengan still whirred strongly in his hand, making their clothes rush in the wind it created as Boruto clenched the same arm his father's attack grew from, and looked into his eyes.

"There's one thing you should know about me, dad." Boruto proclaimed as Naruto's eyes grew wide and his mouth opened slightly in anticipation. "I don't lose."

Naruto's eyes grew wider at his son's words, and the members of Team Konohamaru along with those of Team 7 stood completely and tensely still, utterly agape when Boruto disappeared in a puff of smoke before the hokage's very eyes. Naruto was caught off guard and completely surprised when he felt the pressure of the clone which was apparently just grasping his arm release. Realizing this, Naruto whirled around to face the direction where he had previously tossed the Boruto duplicate which had tried to come at him from behind with the rasengan.

The hokage stood dumbfounded when he found his slightly bruised and dirtied son, laughing lightly and twirling three kunai in his hand as he leaned up against the tree where Naruto's rigged knives were previously lodged.

"I know you guys taught me not to play with fire," Boruto announced proudly. "But hey, I have three minutes left till they would've gone off anyways."

Naruto smiled at his son, pride beaming from him in every direction.

"Two and a half," Naruto laughed. "Congratulations, Boruto. You pass."

Boruto smiled brightly, squeezing his eyes shut as he let out a small triumphant laugh and shot a thumbs up toward Sarada and Mitsuki. Sasuke and Sakura smiled to each other as the remaining members of Team Konohamaru laughed and cheered before jumping down, joining their teammate on the battlefield.

"Not bad, not bad at all Boruto," Sarada exclaimed to the blonde.

"Yeah, you put on quite the display! That was amazing!" Mitsuki smiled as Boruto continued laughing gleefully.

Sasuke and Sakura joined Naruto on the training grounds just a ways away from the celebrating Team Konohamaru.

"Naruto you idiot," Sakura said as she backhanded the back of the hokage's head, "Don't scare me like that, it looked like you were gonna plant that rasengan right on his face!"

Sasuke chuckled a bit as he watched Naruto flinch as a result of Sakura's hit.

"Come on Sakura, you know I would never do that! Besides…" Naruto said as he looked upon Team Konohamaru with a proud smile and half-lidded eyes, "He's got a lot ahead of him."

"What are you teaching him, anyway?" Sasuke inquired, and Naruto looked over to him with a smirk.

"You still know how to do chidori, right?" Naruto asked jokingly, earning a small smile from his best friend before they all turned toward Team Konohamaru.

"Boruto!" Naruto yelled to him from afar, interrupting the celebration as his son looked upon him with his undivided attention. "You're not done yet!"

Boruto approached his father determinately, stopping himself to face Team 7. "I'm ready."

"Good to hear, because I have a feeling you're gonna enjoy this, Boruto" Naruto said, watching his son lift his head upward toward him to show off his confidence. The hokage smiled at this.

 _Oh yeah. He's a shinobi now, no doubt about it._

"Boruto, I know you're ready. Uncle Sasuke and I are going to teach you a new technique, but first…I do owe you something," Naruto said, peaking Boruto's prime curiosity.

"What is it?" Boruto asked quizzically.

"You still have those kunai, right? The ones I put in the tree?" Naruto asked, pointing to Boruto's weapon holster.

"Yeah, why? You want 'em back?" Boruto asked, making for the pouch tied to his leg but pausing at his father's next words.

"No, you can keep them. You should know though, not all of them were paper bombs." Naruto said slowly, making Boruto look at him, deep in thought. A short moment later, the boy proceeded to withdraw the onyx blades from the holster, examining each one before realizing that one of them was indeed different.

He looked back up to his father curiously, who in turn signaled for him to examine it more closely. Looking back down at it, Boruto undid the string which tethered the piece of paper from the handle of the knife, taking the piece of paper in his hands, and unfolding it.

"In passing my test, Boruto, you proved yourself ready to learn a new technique, yes," Naruto said as he watched his son look wide-eyed at the paper in his hands. "But I feel that you've earned that, too."

Boruto took a moment to look upon the paper as he read it with his mouth agape, a small tear escaping from his eye. Both Sasuke and Sakura smiled at Boruto's reaction as well as the confused looks they were getting from Sarada and Mitsuki.

"Boruto Uzumaki, I hereby deem you eligible to compete in the Chuunin Selection Exams upon their continuation, exactly one month from today."

Boruto's clouded eyes shot up to his father in disbelief. He looked from the paper to his father, then back to the paper, which had Naruto's signature scribbled at the bottom. Behind him, Sarada and Mitsuki gasped excitedly at what their hokage just said.

"So, what do you say?" Naruto asked finally, offering his fist out to Boruto.

Boruto put the paper down to his side after another moment, approaching his father slowly. Stopping in front of his fist, he looked at it, contemplating everything. Naruto's smile dropped slightly, puzzled at where his son's electric attitude went. Boruto looked from his father's fist and to his eyes before reaching out to him, suddenly pulling him into a tight embrace.

Naruto was still, as he didn't expect this to come from Boruto at all. He was always 'too cool' for hugs unless it was for Hinata or Himawari.

"I won't let you down, dad." Boruto said finally through glistening eyes, "Thank you."

Naruto smiled at him when he broke away from their embrace, watching him wipe away the tears and turn toward the rest of his team excitedly.

"Whaddaya say, Team Konohamaru? Ready to show them what we've _really_ got?" Boruto said, feeling a huge wave of determination surge through him at his newfound excitement. Naruto could swear that he'd never seen Boruto as happy as he was right then in that moment. His hard work, his will to never stop until he won, everything. That was how he knew. He made the right decision.

"Hell yeah we are! Team Konohamaru is ready for anything," Sarada responded for the both of them.

"Good to hear," Sasuke said, smiling at his daughter fondly.

"Boruto," Naruto said, interrupting the moment once again to gain his son's attention. "I gave you that because I truly believe in you. I know you won't disappoint, and I further know that you won't let me down. I look forward to seeing you out there again…I look forward to seeing what my son can _really_ do."

Boruto pasted a cocky grin back on his face, saluting his father.

"Oh you will. And you've seen _nothing_ yet." Boruto proclaimed, making all of Team 7 smile at them all. They really were the spitting image of them when they were younger; it was a beautiful thing to witness.

"I'm sure I haven't," Naruto said, glancing over to Sasuke a moment before continuing, "Now though, I believe _we_ have something to teach _you_."

Boruto looked at them both excitedly in anticipation of what was going to be showcased to him by the two most powerful people he knew existed.

"Sasuke, if you would?" Naruto said to his friend.

"With pleasure." Sasuke said in reply, taking his hand from out of his cloak, pushing the fabric behind him.

"Stand back," Sakura advised Team Konohamaru, "This might get kinda…big."

The young shinobi all reluctantly followed her advice, and gave Naruto and Sasuke some space to execute their jutsu. All eyes were on them.

"Now Boruto, pay attention," Sasuke said, bringing his arm in front of him, igniting a chidori. "Obviously you've seen this before."

Boruto looked from Sasuke to his father, who proceeded to ready his hands. Noticing this, Boruto placed his undivided attention back to Sasuke.

"Chidori and rasengan. Powerful when used separately, yes. Even more powerful when mixed."

Bringing his chidori out to his side, Naruto built his rasengan around the great ball of lightning, until it became the epicenter of a rasengan about the size of the user's hand.

"Now I know that you're already aware that this mix is doable, and I've been meaning to teach it to you once you got your rasengan down," Sasuke said. "Just so happens, though, that Naruto filled me in about something _else_ you can do, which will make this jutsu complete. Naruto?"

"Right. Boruto, you may find this to look familiar. Watch closely," Naruto said as Boruto's gaze shifted to the lightning rasengan in their hands.

Naruto focused chakra into his rasengan. A chakra that was colored amber. At this, Boruto's eyes widened by a considerable margin.

 _So he DID see me do that…_ Boruto thought as he watched the rasengan in the two shinobi's hands gradually turn purple. Sarada and Mitsuki were in absolute awe of what was happening before their very eyes. This was something that wasn't seen often, and they knew it.

"It has come to my attention," Naruto stated, "that Kurama, the Nine Tailed Fox, has taken a liking to you. You inherited some of his chakra from me, since I'm his Jinchuriki."

Boruto's eyes widened. He had no idea that the thing which tormented his father in his childhood had been passed on to him. He sensed the same power emanating from their now violet rasengan that he had when he was in the woods the night before. Raw power.

"It's the same energy which burned your hand, but only because you don't know how to control it. Yet" Naruto said as Boruto looked upon them in absolute awe.

 _I…I can do that? By myself?_ He thought, watching his father's and his master's faces smirk back at him.

"The goal here is for you to make this yourself," Sasuke said. "We will officially start tomorrow, since your father wants your hand to heal just a bit more. Sakura will be taking the extra steps to make sure that your hand is ready to handle the Nine Tail's chakra again."

Boruto nodded to his master, sparing no complaints or doubts. He looked to his father, who smiled back confidently at him.

"Now, here's the fun part," Naruto said, grinning at Sasuke, who nodded in return. They pulled back, and hurled the rasengan high into the air before letting it detonate in the sky. For a moment, all was quiet as it soared into the sky, imploding on itself and completely disappearing before exploding in a massive thirty meter-wide ball of wind, lightning, and chakra.

Boruto felt the wall of wind from the explosion slam into him, ruffling his clothes in an intense gust.

"That's…that's amazing…" Boruto whispered to himself as he watched the massive chakra discharge gradually disappear into the wind.

"So, Boruto," Naruto said, gaining his son's attention back from the huge power outburst he just witnessed. "We're going to start training you to handle Kurama's chakra tomorrow. Of course, that is if you think you can handle it."

"Dad," Boruto smiled intently, looking at his father in the eye. "I can handle anything."


	5. Always

**_Always_**

As she sat on one of the couches in the living room of her home, Hinata heard light muffled voices coming from behind the wooden front door. The house had a knack for amplifying the slightest of sounds throughout the first floor due to the plain openness of the space. She could barely distinguish whom the voices belonged to before the door was thrown open. Startled, Hinata jumped from the couch to see who it was, following her instincts as a shinobi and nearly assuming a defensive stance before noticing that it was Boruto, laughing excitedly as he quickly ran through the open front doorway and through the foyer.

"Mom! Mom! Dad's letting me into the Chuunin exams! He's letting me do it!" Boruto exclaimed, barely giving Hinata time to formulate a response to his news before he ran past her, clenching the entry form that his father had given him less than an hour before. She formed a smile as she watched him run straight up the stairs, giddily cheering like it was the first time in his life that he'd unapologetically radiated pure happiness. Hinata's gaze swiveled from the stairs back to the open doorway of the home, where her eyes met Naruto's. Her smile stayed firm as a spark in her eyes ignited.

"You made him laugh" Hinata said playfully to her husband, after which she received a smile and a nod in return.

"I do my best" Naruto smiled as he walked into the house, closing the door behind him and removing his sandals. He placed them onto the concrete of the foyer before stepping up onto the living room floor to meet Hinata with a warm embrace. Shortly after, he withdrew from the hug, lovingly placing his hands on either side of her as he continued to hold her line of sight. Their tender gaze was interrupted shortly after when both of their eyes darted toward the stairs again, and they laughed as they heard Boruto's excitement over the Chuunin exams continuing faintly in his room upstairs.

"Oh, he's definitely going to wake Himawari" Hinata laughed as she looked back at her husband.

"Well, today's an exception to bedtime I think," Naruto said as his face grew more and more fond of the moment, "He's got a lot to be proud of."

"Well he beat you pretty bad apparently, so there's that much" Hinata smiled as Naruto playfully rolled his eyes and let out a short, proud laugh.

Naruto looked around the warmly lit house and took a moment to himself, absorbing the welcoming surroundings of home that he regrettably only gets to see once in a while. He let out a quiet exhale as he felt his body relax for the first time in what felt like years. Ever since he found Boruto in the forest grove getting his hand burned by incorrectly conjuring Kurama's chakra, he decided to take it upon himself to guide him through the discovery which was new to them both. He almost dared calling it a mini vacation, leaving Shikamaru to tend to the paperwork that he was authorized to fill out. He couldn't do all of it of course, but he deemed himself able to do enough to cover Naruto's absence at the office for at least a few days.

"You look tired, Naruto" Hinata said, concern beginning to grow in her tone of voice.

"Oh it's ok, I'm used to it honestly," Naruto said, facing her once again and smiling, "It's nothing that some sake and a night-in can't fix, right?"

Hinata smiled as she looked toward the small courtyard they had as part of their home, lying just past the sliding doors of their kitchen. In this small, dimly-lit and cozy outdoor space there was a padded bench-swing for two and a koi pond, in addition to the lush grass and vibrant flowers planted into the earth, accented by the vines which grew tastefully up the majority of the outdoor walls.

"Yeah, I think I know just the thing." She said as she walked away from Naruto and toward the kitchen counter to pour the sake. As she did so, she could feel the blonde's loving eyes follow her.

And indeed, his gaze was lightly fixed on the back of her head as he held a small smile.

Up in his room, Boruto shed his red and black jacket and sandals, which he thanked the heavens above that his parents said nothing about. His mom caught him wearing shoes and walking through the house on one or two separate occasions that he could recollect, and all that he could remember from those experiences was feeling so afraid that he almost swore to never wear shoes again at all.

He threw the jacket over the backrest of his desk chair and tossed the shin-braced sandals to the side of the room. As he turned toward his window with half-lidded, accomplished, and proud eyes, he looked out to the trees from his window. They were a shade slightly darker than that of twilight, and each of their full branches followed the light breeze which graced the still air that night. The signs of the moonlight taking subtle control of the technicolor, starry sky above became more and more apparent with each passing moment.

 _Today was a good day_ , he thought as his smile held its ground on his whiskered face. He looked again toward the form that sat on his desk, specifically at his father's signature at the bottom. He picked it up and examined it for the hundredth time since he got it, feeling that once uncontrollable excitement start to settle nicely in his gut. The boy lowered his arm, holding the form at his side as he made his way to the door with a smirk and clicked the doorknob open.

The hallway was only partly lit thanks to the combined efforts of the kitchen lights downstairs as well as the single lamp on Boruto's desk which emitted its light through the semi-open doorway the blonde had walked through. He made his way a few yards down the narrow space until he reached another door, which he grasped the doorknob of and hugged the wall next to before quietly making to open it. He peeked inside to find his little sister cuddled up in a ball with some blankets, faintly snoring away in a deep slumber. Deep down, it made the boy feel a spark of joy by just witnessing the adorable scene. There would always be a special place in his heart reserved only for his baby sister.

Letting out a quiet exhale, Boruto took care to not let the door make a squeak or any other sound as he opened it slowly.

 _Her bedtime must've only been a little while ago, the sun just went down._ He thought.

The blonde traversed the room carefully, moving as quietly as a mouse to Himawari's bedside, kneeling down to level his face with her's. Additionally, he took care to not get close enough to the point that it could possibly startle her.

"Hey, Himawari..!" He whispered gently, smiling brighter when she began to stretch a little bit before opening her drowsy, innocent little eyes.

"Boruto..?" She yawned in response as she rubbed her eyes, "Wha..what is it?"

At this, the boy grinned and let out a satisfied grunt through his teeth, snapping his eyes shut in joy as he lifted the form up for his sister to see. She looked at it quizzically, looking back up at Boruto to get a hint as to what it was.

"Dad's gonna let me back into the Chuunin exams!" He whispered excitedly, gaining a gleeful response from Himawari in seconds. She looked from the form back up to her brother and gasped with joy.

"See? He even signed his name at the bottom, so it's official." Boruto concluded, meeting Himawari's excited eyes.

"I knew you could do it big brother," she whispered back to him with a smile, "I just knew it."

Boruto blushed as he absorbed her sweet response and laughed with her.

"Well I couldn't have done it without you, baby sister. Thanks for cheering me on" He said, gently rubbing the top of her head, messing up her hair. Another flutter crept its way into his stomach as Himawari sunk back into the covers, shutting her eyes once again.

"Always" she said contently.

After a few seconds, Boruto got back on his feet and made his way back to the door of her bedroom to make his exit.

"I love you, sis" He said, looking back to Himawari one last time.

"I love you too, big brother" she replied sweetly as she slowly drifted back to sleep.

With that, Boruto smirked proudly and walked through the doorway of her bedroom and clicking the door shut behind him peacefully before making his way back to his room.

As the night grew darker, the sights and sounds of the small courtyard at the epicenter of their home became a lot more prominent. The colors of the greenery seemed to grow warmer in tone under the dim lights accenting them, and the sound of the gently-moving water in the koi pond created a therapeutic atmosphere that anyone wouldn't dare describe as anything short of heavenly on the ears. Altogether with the stars which dazzled the sky, it was just the space and sanctuary that Naruto needed after these past couple of days. The only solace he found in constantly being drowned in paperwork was that coming home for a night or two felt infinitely more special. What he would give for things to be like this every night – after all, his children were growing up before his very eyes and he seems to only catch the highlights, sadly enough.

"You're really stretching yourself thin these days," Hinata said as she slid the door open, stepping outside to join her husband, "Having you home like this once in a while is such a blessing to us, you have no idea."

Naruto sat on the bench swing facing the koi pond with a somber look slowly finding its way onto his face. Hinata noticed this, and paced toward him with their sake in hand.

"I wish it wasn't like this, Hinata. I really do." He said, unable to look away from the fish which magically captured his gaze.

"We know, Naruto," Hinata said, attempting to cheer him up as she made to sit next to him and hand him his sake, "You can't be here all the time, but for good reason. Nobody else could do what you do."

Naruto shook his head as he held his drink out in front of him, absently playing with it between his fingers. "I really didn't think it would be this tight of a schedule for me to be honest, being Hokage. Work I can handle, but not being able to be here hardly at all is something completely different."

Hinata looked at Naruto, who turned to meet her comforting gaze.

"We love you Naruto, that will never change." She said, watching the Hokage as he pondered her words for a moment, taking a deep breath and letting it out quietly.

"Yeah…I know," He nodded subtly, "And for that, I'm so thankful."

Boruto slowly crept down the stairs, quietly entering the now darkened kitchen to get a glass of water when he heard mumbling outside. Stopping in his tracks, he curiously shifted his head toward the half-open glass sliding door which led out to their courtyard. Channeling his inner shinobi, the boy covertly made his way behind the wall perpendicular to this door so that he could hear the conversation a little more clearly in secret.

"We can still be a family, Naruto. We've managed for this long haven't we?" Hinata continued as Naruto took a sip of his drink.

"I guess we have...but that doesn't reconcile the fact that it's pretty much impossible for me to watch our children grow up. Hinata, I feel like I'm missing _everything_ …" Naruto replied, Boruto's smile falling as he stood silently behind the wall registering what his parents' conversation was about.

"I know that it's nearly impossible to balance it, but I have a duty to uphold. I need to carry the weight of the village – the thousands of people that are counting on me to protect them." Naruto continued, looking to Hinata. "And they have families, too!"

Naruto looked to the koi fish darting from spot to spot across their pond haphazardly, yet ever freely.

"I just…I wish I could be there for mine."

Boruto found himself intently listening to every word with his eyes depressed and half-lidded. His forehead was pressed against the wall he was hiding behind as it was the only thing that could hold it from hitting rock bottom at this moment.

 _This is why I'll never be Hokage, dad._

What made Boruto feel so misunderstood by his parents for the longest time is that he didn't detest his dad as it may have seemed from time to time.

To him, Naruto was two different people. He resented only the Hokage. Not his father. The boy closed his eyes briefly before letting out a short exhale and turning to walk back upstairs before hearing his dad speak up again.

"On the other hand though, right now I couldn't be happier." Naruto said after a moment of complete silence. Boruto curiously furrowed his brow, reassuming his position behind the wall as he listened for what came next.

"So you _are_ able to find the light at the end of the tunnel, huh?" Hinata smiled.

"Well today, it's hard not to!" Naruto began to laugh. "After all, my son is headed straight for the top!"

Boruto smiled at this and his eyes widened in semi-surprise as he felt a new brand of happiness seep into his veins that not even his Chuunin exam entry form gave him.

"He is, isn't he." Hinata giggled at Naruto's excitement.

"You _know_ he is. He's not the type of kid that gives up. He's also not the type of ninja that'll only settle for the path of least resistance, either. Not anymore, anyway." Naruto said with confidence as he looked optimistically up at the night sky, his smile only getting brighter.

Boruto silently chuckled as he felt his lips begin to slightly quiver at his dad's words.

"He thinks two, hell, ten steps ahead of you in battle, he plans tactically, expertly releases different types of ninjutsu, and even combines them too!" Naruto continued, getting more and more excited with every passing thing that came to mind when he thought of Boruto.

" _That's_ why he won't fail. _That's_ why he'll surpass me one day." He said matter-of-factly.

"You sound so sure" Hinata smiled as Naruto once again assumed a fully calm and optimistic demeanor as he stared up into the starry sky.

"I _am_ sure. I'll believe in Boruto until the end."

Boruto let a single teardrop trickle down his face as he formed what may have been the hardest smile he's felt in his life. His lip continued to quiver in happiness, and his eyes remained squeezed shut as he raised a hand to wipe them.

 _Dammit dad, look what you did…_ He thought, laughing involuntarily to himself again.

 _I don't cry…ever! …I must look like a total baby right now!_ Boruto laughed in his head quietly, unable to control the sheer joy that radiated from his bloodstream like wildfire.

 _I won't let you down, dad. I will never fail you again, for as long as I live._

 _I promise you._

Boruto found himself back up in his room shortly after hearing his parents' conversation, closing the door behind him quietly before walking a few steps to his window. He looked outside as the moon shone brightly in the sky, soaking the leaf village in its gentle aura. Smiling and feeling newly alive for the second time that day, he turned his gaze from the window down to the nightstand which stood next to his bed. On it, a small family photo of him hugging Himawari over her shoulders from behind with a cocky grin, and his parents standing proudly behind them, Naruto's bandaged hand on his son's head.

On any other day, that would've pissed Boruto off since he tries his best to make his hairstyle look as cool as possible, especially for a photo. But…there was something special about that day that kept his cocky grin plastered on his face for the picture. He recognized that joy as the same happiness he felt now, at this moment, as he stared at the memory captured in the small, wooden frame. Could his dad be there for him all the time?

No.

Could he pick him up every time he falls?

Hell no.

Would he always believe in him?

Well, tonight answered that long-pondered question for the blonde. And although he never admitted it, Boruto realized that really did love him. Just as he loves his mother and his sister. And one more thing certainly became clear for the boy on this beautiful night as he kept his eyes glued to the photo which now gently rested in his hands.

"I'll believe in you too, dad." He said proudly under his breath as he focused on the proud father grinning in the picture.

"Always."


End file.
